


Control

by blackjacktheboss



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-30
Updated: 2017-08-30
Packaged: 2018-12-21 15:02:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11946738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackjacktheboss/pseuds/blackjacktheboss
Summary: dark!percy inspired by Halsey





	Control

> _They send me away to find them a fortune_  
>  A chest filled with diamonds and gold  
> The house was awake  
> With shadows and monsters  
> The hallways they echoed and groaned

Percy is summoned to Olympus one day 

he stands before all the Gods, including his father, who can’t seem to look him in the eye 

Zeus’s voice reverberates through the room and it takes Percy some time to register what he has said 

“You want me to what?” 

“Hades will accompany you to the Underworld where you will once again receive the curse of Achilles. There is a task at hand that requires it. And you.” 

It had been 3 years since Percy and his friends once again saved Olympus from ruin, and he had convinced himself he was headed towards a normal life 

once again his dreams were dashed 

Percy steeled himself, refusing to let Zeus see him shaken, “What’s the task?” 

“I assume you know that Delphi has yet to be reclaimed.”

Percy knew. He had slowly watched his friend Rachel lose bits and pieces of herself. Without the Oracle’s full presence, the host was stricken with bits of prophecy that she was left to obsess over and try to decipher. 

“What you don’t know is that what Python also guards is an ancient relic. An object imbued with power from the peak of Ancient Greece, and it is what keeps Python so strong.” 

“And I have to retrieve it? From a giant and ancient snake?” 

“It is a task that sounds simple but will require great skill and stealth. Which is why you will go alone.” 

the word _alone_ buzzed in Percy’s head as Zeus continued 

“Apollo and Artemis will accompany you as far as the borders of Delphi, and there you will remedy my son’s incompetence.” 

Apollo shifted uncomfortably in his seat as Artemis straightened in hers

Poseidon looked up at his son for the first time, worry etched into his brow, and Percy couldn’t help but think that must be where he gets it from– he would have to remember to tell Annabeth that later

* * *

>   _I sat alone, in bed ‘til the morning  
>  I’m crying, “They’re coming for me”_

his goodbye to Annabeth flashed in his head: her tears, her pleading to let her go with him, her hand physically pushing him out of her sight, his own tears as he begged for her forgiveness 

he sat on his bed in the darkness of 1am, waiting for what he knew was coming 

a chill entered the air and Percy looked up to see a dark figure standing across from him

“Lord Hades, I expected you sooner.” 

“Cerberus had to be walked and Persephone said I couldn’t wait until after to do it.” 

Percy laughed, “I know what that’s like” 

as they approached the River Styx, Hades placed his hand on Percy’s shoulder, “For what it’s worth, kid, I voted against this.” 

Percy nodded in thanks, no words able to form in his head as it was occupied with thoughts of his anchor and her smile 

“Zeus sucks!” he yelled, before taking the plunge 

* * *

 

> _And I tried to hold these secrets inside me  
>  My mind’s like a deadly disease_

Percy was gone for a month 

his mom found him collapsed in his bed, Apollo assuring her he would be fine with just a couple days of uninterrupted sleep 

when he finally woke up, he walked out of his room to find his mom, Paul and Annabeth all waiting for him 

“I didn’t think you’d be here,” he whispered into her ear as they embraced 

“Who else is gonna give you a hard time, Seaweed Brain?” she choked out through tears 

he knew he wasn’t forgiven, but having her there was enough

they slept in his bed that night, curled around each other like they did after the War; like the only way to prove the other was real was by staying constantly connected 

he watched her sleep

the rise and fall of her chest, the way her curls seemed to frame her face as perfectly as they did in his dreams 

his friends tried to ask him about what happened in Delphi

how he managed to single handedly defeat something as ancient as Python 

but Percy could never find the words 

they stopped asking soon enough, understanding the permanent marks a quest can leave on the soul 

the worst part was, he wanted to tell them, at least wanted to tell Annabeth, everything 

but a voice in the back of his head hissed, “If you tell them, they will reject you. If they ever find out, Olympus will be no home to you, young hero.” 

* * *

> _I’m well acquainted_  
>  With villains that live in my bed  
>  They beg me to write them  
>  So they’ll never die when I’m dead

it started with the twitch of his hand   
small movements that some might calls spasms, but they felt different   
it was different   
he was different   
when he looked down at the homework he had been doing, only one thing was written over and over again: **_python_**  

* * *

> _I’m bigger than my body_  
>  I’m colder than this home  
>  I’m meaner than my demons  
>  I’m bigger than these bones
> 
> _And all the kids cried out,_  
>  “Please stop, you’re scaring me”  
>  I can’t help this awful energy  
>  Goddamn right, you should be scared of me  
>  Who is in control?

all Percy remembers clearly are the screams   
flashes of earth cracking beneath his feet and surges of water appearing at the snap of his fingers are muddled with fog   
visions Cabins on fire or completely destroyed, bodies of people he had broken bread with lying still, Chiron shooting arrows to distract him from the kids who ran screaming towards Half Blood Hill, Satyrs turning to plants with the slash of his sword dissipate like smoke   
later, Annabeth tells him how he was outlined by green smoke and his eyes glowed the same color; how he somehow seemed to be twice his size   
she details through tears, how the Hunters of Artemis appeared with bows at the ready; how they cast a golden net over him; how he writhed in pain as the gold burned his skin; how Apollo appeared on his gold chariot and shot an arrow at Percy’s forehead   
an explosion of green smoke overtook the center of camp, and when it cleared all that remained was Percy’s body lying perfectly still   
Grover helped Annabeth carry Percy to the ocean where they placed him in the shallows  
the water responded to his presence, floating him out into the waves that seems to crash around him, refusing to disturb its young prince’s sleep   
a great green trident appeared in the sky above his body, and the water created a vortex, dropping his body down into the depths 

* * *

> _Goddamn right, you should be scared of me  
>  Who is in control?_

he once again woke in his bedroom, the sound of whispers no longer just in his head   
“I don’t know that he can come back to Camp.”   
“Chiron, please,”   
Percy immediately recognized his mother’s voice   
“It may not have been him, Sally, but he killed people. He killed kids. I can barely handle the trauma of the kids who survived, let alone the anxiety they would all have should he return. You must know how hard this is for me. I love Percy. He’s a good man, I know that but once again, forces greater than any of us have conspired against him.”   
“He’s right,” Percy said, appearing from the hallway. “You should be scared of me.”   
Percy decided it would be best for everyone if he went away for a while  
everyone, his mom, Paul, Chiron, Annabeth, and Grover, all argued against it and in the moment he agreed to hold on for a few days before making his final decision   
but Percy was sure he was making the right choice   
once again, as he watched Annabeth sleep he pulled himself out of bed and threw a few things into his backpack, the same one that had accompanied him on that first quest so long ago   
he placed a kiss to Annabeth’s temple and left a letter for her on his pillow, a tear sliding down his cheek as he silently said goodbye    
ten minutes later he stood on the roof of his building as Blackjack swooped down   
“Where to, Boss?”   
“I haven’t decided yet, if that’s alright.”   
“Doesn’t Lady Boss always have a plan though?”   
Percy turned around and found Annabeth, Yankees cap in hand, scowling at him with her arms crossed   
“You were just gonna leave me?”   
“Annabeth, you have to understand-”   
“So much for ‘never again’, huh?”   
he stood there speechless and Annabeth rolled her eyes, shoving her own backpack into his hands   
“Help me up, would you?”   
“Annabeth, I have to leave on my own.”   
“We tried that before, remember?”   
“I’m not in control, Annabeth!” he shouted. “I know they said the Gods used me to bring back the relic that held Python’s spirit so he would possess me and Apollo could kill it on home turf, okay. I get that. But I still feel… broken. Like I’m not me. And I won’t hurt anyone else, especially not you. So please- please just let me go.”   
she looked at him with those stormy grey eyes that always seemed to be thinking a million things at once  
she stepped forward, placing her hands on either side of Percy’s face and pulling him in until their foreheads rested against each other   
“That was a nice speech, Jackson. But you and me, we’ve been doing this since we were 12, remember? I am in this with you, no matter what. Always have been, always will be. So you can make this easy on yourself and let me come with you, or spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder waiting for me to find you.”   
Percy exhaled for what felt like the first time in weeks, wrapping his arms around Annabeth placing a kiss to her lips   
“Blackjack wants to know if we can go somewhere tropical so he can work on his tan.”   
they laughed against each other’s lips, basking in the embrace for just a while longer   
they sat on Blackjack’s back, making the final decision of where exactly to go, when Percy turned to look at Annabeth over his shoulder   
“Annabeth, if we do this, we can’t come back you know that right?”   
she pulled herself closer to him, squeezing his middle and placing a kiss to his shoulder before whispering in his ear, “Olympus be damned.”


End file.
